


Meeting With The Enemy

by Helenadorf



Category: Rockman | Mega Man Classic
Genre: Gen, hinted Heat Man/Kalinka, mostly because RP group oops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-17
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2019-05-08 01:53:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14683961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Helenadorf/pseuds/Helenadorf
Summary: Skull Man is asked to meet with one of Wily's robots, under peaceful conditions. He accepts tentatively, cautious. There isn't much to be said-- not to one of them.





	Meeting With The Enemy

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I've been studying Russian lately, once a week, for an hour; and assigning myself homework as well. This fic was one such "assignment", practicing typing with a Russian keyboard setting and to help familiarize myself with basic phrases. Every line that's more complicated than a word or two came from Google Translate, though. Low effort, no plot; and if anyone's wondering why Heat has a crush on Kalinka it's because it's a thing my friends and I came up with in RP and it's cute so it stuck. Enjoy!

Meeting with the enemy.

Being out of armour for discretion’s sake, Skull Man was much less of an unusual sight among the crowds of Monstropolis. Dusty brown hair much like Dr. Cossack’s, casual clothes for the late spring (in this part of the world, anyway); the only two things that might have been odd were the bright red eyes and armoured boots, but those weren’t things passersby would necessarily notice or comment on. Besides, _he_ wasn’t the criminal going out into public.

The request message had told him to arrive at a downtown dessert parlour not far from the centre of town. Not only were there a considerable number of people around, making any violence reckless and certain to be recorded and put on the Internet within minutes, but ascertaining that there wouldn’t be a shady ambush, either. The shop itself was also appropriately bright, a strong smell of fresh waffles and strawberries reaching as far as the other side of the block.

Skull Man entered the parlour, scanning the tables for his host. His eyes caught a young boy, no older than thirteen, with big eyes as green as envy and drinking a mug of hot cocoa.

The boy noticed him quickly and set down his mug with a grin and a whipped cream moustache over his upper lip. “Доброе утро!” _Good morning!_

He would admit, being greeted in his native language in a foreign country was an encouraging sign to him. However, it wouldn’t change the fact that he knew exactly who the boy was, and who he worked for—and unfortunately, he also had a good idea of what he wanted.

Heat Man gestured him over, friendly yet not overly so (so far). Skull Man took his seat across the table, not yet glancing down at the menu set down on his side. There was a moment of silence, with the other seeming to expect the same from Skull at first before understanding the distrust written into his expression.

“Вам не нужно быть подозрительным,” _You don’t have to be suspicious_ , Heat said. “Мы не хотим, чтобы вы в нашей армии.” _We_ _don_ _’t_ _want_ _you_ _in_ _our_ _army_ _._

Skull relaxed to some degree at that, though still not taking his eyes off of the boy. “Я ценю это.” _I appreciate it._

Heat took another sip of his cocoa while Skull finally turned his attention to the menu. He settled on something simple, not wanting to spend too much time here regardless of intentions—though he had to wonder what this was about, if not his rejoining Wily.

After the waitress came by to take Skull’s order, Heat sat up in his seat. His face didn’t necessarily turn serious, but the giddy little smile he’d had before faded. “Как Калинка была?” _How was Kalinka?_

He hesitated to answer that. After taking a second to gauge Heat’s tone—he seemed to be genuinely curious? Though hell if Skull knew why he would care—he decided there was no harm in doing so. “Она хорошо.” _She_ _’s_ _well_.

Heat smiled. “Я рад. Я хотел быть уверенным …” _I’m glad. I wanted to be sure…_

Skull raised an eyebrow—the boy coughed, cheeks pinking slightly. “Эм, неважно.” _Um, it doesn’t matter._

Did he even want to know? After a slightly awkward minute, the waitress returned with Skull’s drink. “Спасибо,” Skull said—before correcting himself, remembering that he was in the west. “Er, thank you.”

She didn’t seem to mind. “Пожалуйста!” _You’re welcome!_

As she walked away, Heat spoke up. “I requested her specifically ‘cause I knew she was Russian,” he said. “I figured you’d be more comfortable not having to switch language settings.”

“You’ve been out of armour so often?”

“Not like anyone recognizes me this way. More importantly, almost nobody in Skull Fortress can cook? So unless we want to live purely off of bland, weird-smelling E-tanks, we really don’t have much choice.”

“Hm.”

Skull decided they had danced around the topic enough. “If the waitress understands us in either language, then it doesn’t matter if you speak to me in Russian or in English. What did you call me for, if not to request me back?”

Heat hesitated, drinking from his mug again and finishing what was left of the cocoa. Skull wondered if the stalling was intentional. It may not have been—it could have been wanton paranoia on his part. It wouldn’t be unheard of from him, in all honesty… but still, he couldn’t be too careful. Not with a robot built by Wily.

“Well… Dad wanted me to ask you about Proto Man.”

Ah.

“Proto Man,” Skull repeated. “He was the one to free Kalinka, as I recall. Haven’t heard from him since.”

Heat toyed with the handle of his mug, a frown on his chubby face. “Yeah, him. He’s the one we’re really after… he’s always been pretty elusive, you’re sure he hasn’t been anywhere near the Cossack household?”

Skull could only give him a nod. “In all fairness, even if I had seen him, I’m not so sure it would be wise to tell you so. For his safety, and for the sake of the Light family.”

“Yeah, I know.”

A small sigh escaped the boy, and he leaned back in his seat. “Still, it was worth a shot. I really don’t think it’s smart to stir up real trouble anytime soon, honestly, but I gotta follow dad’s orders.”

Skull said nothing to that, understanding all too well.

“Besides, it was worth it just for the excuse to come here again. My oldest brother has been too busy to, and it’s no fun going anywhere alone. Company’s company, and you’re not as bad as dad warned me you’d be.”

That got a bit of a surprise out of the other. A friendly smile returned to Heat’s face.

“Tab’s on me, by the way.” Heat reached for the glass of water on his side of the table. “You didn’t give us much, but a confirmed no is still worth something, I think.”

“You’re certain?”

“Yeah! Besides, you didn’t really talk to anyone while you were with us, and a lot of us are curious about you.”

As Heat started to take a drink, Skull replied: “So long as you don’t start asking about Kalinka again, that’s fine by me.”


End file.
